THE EFFICACY OF PURE PRAYER. APHRAHAT: Purity of heart constitutes prayer more than do all the prayers that
are uttered out loud, and silence united to a mind that is sincere is better
than a loud voice of someone crying out. My beloved, give me now your heart and
your thought, and hear about the power of pure prayer; see how our righteous
ancestors excelled in their prayer before God and how it served them as a “pure
offering.” For it was through prayer that offerings were accepted, and it was
prayer again that averted the flood from Noah. Prayer has healed barrenness,
prayer has overthrown armies, prayer has revealed mysteries, prayer has divided
the sea, prayer made a passage through the Jordan. It held back the sun, it
made the moon stand still, it destroyed the unclean, it caused fire to descend.
Prayer closed up the heaven, prayer raised up from the pit, rescued from the
fire and saved from the sea. On Prayer 1. (The Twelve Apostles,
ed. Alberto Ferreiro [Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture; Downers Grove,
Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2003], 292-93)
